Development of Intensive APHRODITE Hourly Precipitation Data for Assessment of the Moisture Transport That Caused Heavy Precipitation Events

抄録

This study developed a rain-gauge-based hourly precipitation dataset to analyze the heavy precipitation event of July 2018 in Japan (H2018). We modified the APHRODITE algorithm to treat hourly precipitation data, and we detected orographically induced heavy precipitation patterns in western Japan. We compared the heavy precipitation pattern along with moisture transport with that of another disastrous precipitation event in 2014 over Hiroshima (H2014). It is evident that heavy precipitation occurred over a much wider area in Chugoku district during H2018 than in H2014, and extreme precipitation which exceeds 10mm/hr appeared three times in H2018 while at one time in H2014.

Atmospheric rivers (ARs) were detected during two distinct episodes of heavy precipitation over Hiroshima, i.e., 19 August 2014 and 6 July 2018. Of the two events, the precipitation amount and the depth (height) of the AR were much greater in the latter. In the mid-troposphere, abundant moisture and high equivalent potential temperatures along the Meiyu frontal system can produce a large area of continuous heavy precipitation. The intensive hourly rainfall dataset developed in this study will be useful for investigations of AR and meso-scale system that affect heavy precipitation and validation of numerical models.